LeBron James And Maverick Carter's SpringHill Company Raises $100 Million From Investors
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — LeBron James' off-court ventures continue to grow. The Lakers star added a non-profit voting rights group to his list of off court businesses earlier this month. Now, according to Bloomberg, James and business partner Maverick Carter have raised $100 million from various investors to consolidate their three media companies into one Springhill Co.
According to Bloomberg, the funding was finalized back in March but officially announced yesterday. With the funding James and Carter are bringing SpringHill Entertainment, Uninterrupted LLC and the marketing company Robot Co. all under one roof in order to become a maker and distributor of all forms of content that "will give a voice to creators and consumers who've been pandered to, ignored, or underserved."
SpringHill Entertainment is the company behind NBC's "The Wall" and the Space Jam sequel "Space Jam: A New Legacy" which is set to hit theaters in 2021. Uninterrupted brought "The Shop" to HBO through a partnership with Bleacher Report.
In the new SpringHill Co., James will reportedly serve as chairman with Carter serving as CEO. Joining the two on the board are Elisabeth Murdoch, Guggenheim's Scott Minerd, Serena Williams, Apollo Global Management co-founder Mark Rowan, Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino, Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner and investment banker Paul Wachter.
"I've always wanted to use the platform of basketball to empower those around me. Now I'm incredibly excited about the opportunity to build a company that empowers creators, consumers, and everything it touches," James said in a statement. "The SpringHill Company defines empowerment. You see it in the team we've built, the stories we tell, and the community our work will serve."
The investments in the company came from Murdoch, Guggenheim Partners and others. The SpringHill name comes from the apartment complex that James and his mother moved to in Akron when he was in sixth grade.
